24/7 Home Rescue still chasing £65 “cancellation fee” after I filed an official complaint with FOS

Dionliu

Hi everyone,

I really need some advice regarding 24/7 Home Rescue and a £65 “cancellation fee” they are chasing.

Here’s the situation:

• I never cancelled my Direct Debit.

• 24/7 Home Rescue stopped providing the service and I requested them to cancel the policy on their side.

• Later they claimed I cancelled the Direct Debit (which I didn’t).

• I asked them to provide evidence of this – they have not provided anything.

• I have now submitted a formal complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), and FOS has confirmed receipt of my complaint.

• Despite that, 24/7 is still chasing me for the £65 cancellation fee and keeps sending emails/letters.

I thought companies were supposed to pause all collection activity when a case is with FOS, especially if the charge itself is part of the dispute.

My main questions:

1. Are they allowed to keep chasing the £65 while FOS is investigating?

2. Can this affect my credit score or lead to a default? (It’s not a credit agreement, so I believe it shouldn’t?)

3. If they pass it on to a debt collection agency, can the amount increase?

4. Has anyone had a similar issue with 24/7 Home Rescue and won through FOS?

5. What’s the best way to stop them from harassing me while the complaint is active with FOS?

I’ve already provided FOS with:

• the live chat screenshot showing they cancelled my policy,

• the legal letters/emails from them,

• and explained that I never cancelled my DD.

• All communication emails exchanged between both parties

Any help, advice, or shared experiences would be massively appreciated.
Thank you!

user1977

Are you sure it's covered by the FOS?

eskbanker

Dionliu said:

Here’s the situation:

• I never cancelled my Direct Debit.

• 24/7 Home Rescue stopped providing the service and I requested them to cancel the policy on their side.
  

If they stopped service provision under the mistaken impression that you'd cancelled the DD, then surely the resolution would have been square up any missing payments and restart the service?  If you ask them to cancel during the term (regardless of what triggered that request) then I'd have thought that a cancellation charge should be expected?

On the subject of pausing during FOS referral, I recently asked a poster about this in an unrelated thread (about Santander starting to charge business customers despite promising free banking) and, while there doesn't seem to be any clear and concise reliable citation, there was a line of argument constructed which apparently worked in those specific circumstances:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81749955/#Comment_81749955

Dionliu

The background of the problem with 24/7 home rescue is as below: 

I purchased a home care policy with 24/7 in 2024 and just renewed the policy with them this Oct. 

After reporting persistent boiler noise to 24/7, I paid £75 for a call-out, but the engineer only observed the boiler briefly and conducted no full system inspection. When the problem continued, the company refused further visits, kept requesting me to provide evidence of issue and dismissed the issue as “poor installation” .— a claim inconsistent with over a decade of trouble-free operation and never raised by any engineer before.

I eventually paid £55 to hire an independent engineer, who correctly identified the cause of the noise, carried out proper bleeding and fully cleared the condensate pipe on his single visit. The issue was resolved immediately. This clearly shows that the company failed to diagnose and fix the fault, despite two opportunities.

Despite these service failures, the company insists on charging an unfair cancellation fee £65, even though their own failure forced me to seek independent help at my own expense. The refusal to provide proper diagnostics, the inconsistent use of “poor installation” as an excuse to avoid repairs, and the unwillingness to take responsibility reflect very poor customer care.

I have raised a formal complaint to 24/7, but they rejected to remove the cancellation fee. I had to escalated my complaint to FOS and also clearly informed 24/7 about it. Although I requested that they suspend all collection activities, but I still received their legal letter demanding a £65 cancellation fee and alleging that I cancelled the Direct Debit.

sheramber

What does your policy document say about cancellation and any charge payable?

eskbanker

Dionliu said:

The background of the problem with 24/7 home rescue is as below: 

I purchased a home care policy with 24/7 in 2024 and just renewed the policy with them this Oct. 

After reporting persistent boiler noise to 24/7, I paid £75 for a call-out, but the engineer only observed the boiler briefly and conducted no full system inspection. When the problem continued, the company refused further visits, kept requesting me to provide evidence of issue and dismissed the issue as “poor installation” .— a claim inconsistent with over a decade of trouble-free operation and never raised by any engineer before.

I eventually paid £55 to hire an independent engineer, who correctly identified the cause of the noise, carried out proper bleeding and fully cleared the condensate pipe on his single visit. The issue was resolved immediately. This clearly shows that the company failed to diagnose and fix the fault, despite two opportunities.

Despite these service failures, the company insists on charging an unfair cancellation fee £65, even though their own failure forced me to seek independent help at my own expense. The refusal to provide proper diagnostics, the inconsistent use of “poor installation” as an excuse to avoid repairs, and the unwillingness to take responsibility reflect very poor customer care.

I have raised a formal complaint to 24/7, but they rejected to remove the cancellation fee. I had to escalated my complaint to FOS and also clearly informed 24/7 about it. Although I requested that they suspend all collection activities, but I still received their legal letter demanding a £65 cancellation fee and alleging that I cancelled the Direct Debit.

Just to be clear, are you asserting that they're in breach of contract and contending that this gives you the right to terminate the agreement without penalty, and, if this is the case, exactly how did you phrase this in your communications to them, i.e. was there any mention of repudiatory breach, etc?

Dionliu

eskbanker said:

Dionliu said:

The background of the problem with 24/7 home rescue is as below: 

I purchased a home care policy with 24/7 in 2024 and just renewed the policy with them this Oct. 

After reporting persistent boiler noise to 24/7, I paid £75 for a call-out, but the engineer only observed the boiler briefly and conducted no full system inspection. When the problem continued, the company refused further visits, kept requesting me to provide evidence of issue and dismissed the issue as “poor installation” .— a claim inconsistent with over a decade of trouble-free operation and never raised by any engineer before.

I eventually paid £55 to hire an independent engineer, who correctly identified the cause of the noise, carried out proper bleeding and fully cleared the condensate pipe on his single visit. The issue was resolved immediately. This clearly shows that the company failed to diagnose and fix the fault, despite two opportunities.

Despite these service failures, the company insists on charging an unfair cancellation fee £65, even though their own failure forced me to seek independent help at my own expense. The refusal to provide proper diagnostics, the inconsistent use of “poor installation” as an excuse to avoid repairs, and the unwillingness to take responsibility reflect very poor customer care.

I have raised a formal complaint to 24/7, but they rejected to remove the cancellation fee. I had to escalated my complaint to FOS and also clearly informed 24/7 about it. Although I requested that they suspend all collection activities, but I still received their legal letter demanding a £65 cancellation fee and alleging that I cancelled the Direct Debit.

Just to be clear, are you asserting that they're in breach of contract and contending that this gives you the right to terminate the agreement without penalty, and, if this is the case, exactly how did you phrase this in your communications to them, i.e. was there any mention of repudiatory breach, etc?

I didn't clearly use" breach of contract" when I communicated with them but I did point out that they repeatedly refused to provide the contracted service and I was forced to paid an engineer to fix the issue.

eskbanker

Dionliu said:

eskbanker said:

Just to be clear, are you asserting that they're in breach of contract and contending that this gives you the right to terminate the agreement without penalty, and, if this is the case, exactly how did you phrase this in your communications to them, i.e. was there any mention of repudiatory breach, etc?

I didn't clearly use" breach of contract" when I communicated with them but I did point out that they repeatedly refused to provide the contracted service and I was forced to paid an engineer to fix the issue.

Difficult to assess the situation without seeing all the detail but "I requested them to cancel the policy on their side" sounds much more like wording that would trigger a cancellation charge than holding them to be in breach would.  To what extent have they accepted any wrongdoing?

born_again

Have you asked your bank to provide details of who cancelled the DD?


I take it that you have exhausted their complaints process & received a deadlock letter?

Dionliu

born_again said:

Have you asked your bank to provide details of who cancelled the DD?


I take it that you have exhausted their complaints process & received a deadlock letter?

born_again said:

Have you asked your bank to provide details of who cancelled the DD?


I take it that you have exhausted their complaints process & received a deadlock letter?

My bank confirmed it was them to cancel direct debit.

Dionliu

user1977 said:

Are you sure it's covered by the FOS?

Yes, as it is home insurance and they also recommend customers to raise a complaint to FOS for next step.